Spring pea, Lathyrus vernus, with its flowers of lavender, purple, salmon or white can take some shade but blooms best in full sun. Select them now while they are in bloom to get the color you prefer.

Learn when to prune your lavender plants. Clematis. Clematis spp., Zones 3 to 9. ... Iris reticulata, Zones 4 to 9. This fragrant, petite early bloomer grows from just 2 to 12 inches high.

Similar to Siberian iris, and also becoming increasingly popular, are Spuria iris. Forming an attractive circle of 4-foot-tall foliage, they create a nice accent at the rear of perennial beds.

These are just a few of the 500 iris varieties of irises visitors will see in Schreiner’s dreamy display gardens, which opens to the public when the flowers peak in May.